For the past two months now Microsoft has been detailing and releasing major updates to its Xbox One console. The updates have included everything from a revamped friends list and party chat system to hardware space management and a controller battery icon. In short, Microsoft worked furiously to prepare its latest console for last week’s Titanfall release and has promised to bring other major updates in the near future.
In the meantime, Sony has been largely quiet about major updates requested by PlayStation 4 owners. Today that silence has ended and Sony is promising to bring significant changes to PS4 software “in the coming weeks.”
In a PlayStation blog post today SCEA Director of Product Planning and Software Innovation Scott McCarthy revealed that some of the “most-requested” features currently missing from the PS4 will be coming to the console soon. Most of the coming PS4 updates will involve video recording, streaming, or sharing – features that the PS4 has helped to pioneer in the console space.
A video editor is being added to the PS4 for users to cut gameplay clips that they have recorded using the console’s gameplay buffer and recording feature. Another feature will allow PS4 users to export their gameplay clips to a USB drive using the “Share” button on the DualShock controller.
An even more significant feature for a subset of gamers coming with the update is the ability to turn HDCP encryption off. This will allow the recording of gameplay using HDMI, making it easier for long-form PS4 gameplay to be captured and make it to YouTube and other video sites. From the blog post:
We recognize that some gamers want to record and share longer clips of their gameplay sessions, and we’re excited to deliver this option with PS4. There’s a lot more coming in this update as well, so stay tuned for more—there will be plenty in the update to excite everyone.
In addition to the coming update Sony is also promising to bring Twitch streaming upgrades to the PS4 in the future. The company acknowledges that gamers have been asking for a way to archive their PS4 Twitch broadcasts and stream their gameplay at higher resolutions. The company promises that it is now working with Twitch to update the app and provide those features at some point.